Telangana govt sitting on proposal to curb illegal buildings

HYDERABAD: Despite the High Court's direction asking the state government to incorporate stringent measures to curb unauthorized buildings and layouts, the Telangana government has been sitting on a proposal to deny property registration unless an application is accompanied by a building sanction plan and layout approval from the authorities.

Though the proposal was sent by the municipal administration department a few months ago, the government has not taken any decision yet. The government is reportedly dilly-dallying as both the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) and registration and stamps (R&S) departments have different views on implementation of the rule.

While the municipal administration officials say the move would help civic bodies prevent illegal constructions to a huge extent, the R&S department officials argue that it will put a big dent in the department's revenue.

The registration department earns about Rs 3,000 crore a year and is one of the major revenue earning departments in the state after the commercial taxes and excise departments. "As per the existing Registration Act, we cannot insist on building sanction plan or layout approval. The department is ready to implement the change, but the government should be prepared to lose up to 50% of the current revenue from our department," an official of the R&S department said. It is feared that move would lead to a drop in number of registrations.

"For the last few years, some states like Tamil Nadu have successfully implemented a system of insisting on approval copies for registering a property. It can work as an effective measure to prevent illegal layouts and buildings," Anand Babu, director of Telangana Directorate of Town and Country Planning, told TOI.

The municipal administration officials said the government is now examining whether it requires any amendment to the Registration Act, which is a Central Act, and the legal validity of the move if the government insists on submission of sanctioned copies of layouts and designs for registrations. A cabinet sub-committee, headed by minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, and various departments coordination meetings have held discussions on the issue.

Meanwhile, the government has discussed making mortgage mandatory for all types of buildings. A few years ago, the MA&UD department made it mandatory that G+2 buildings and above need to mortgage either 10% of the built-up area or one floor with the civic body. The mortgaged portion is released after the builder obtains occupancy certificate from the municipal authority. This rule was incorporated mainly to discourage builders from raising unauthorised floors.

GHMC commissioner B Janardhan Reddy said that the government is examining linking of property registrations with sanctioned plan or approval for buildings and layouts. "The registration department will definitely lose some revenue. But the issue boils down to enforcement to prevent unauthorized structures and layouts or state's revenue. Government is committed to stop illegal structures with an iron hand," he said.